Men's Basketball Preview: National Tournament | #23 Roane State vs #10 Butler

National Tournament Opening Round

#23 Roane State vs #10 Butler

Monday, March 20th | 4:30 PM Tipoff

The Sports Arena, Hutchinson, Kansas

Watch Live: https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index

Live Stats: https://tinyurl.com/48y3uh72

Massey Ratings Score Prediction (masseyratings.com): Roane St. 68, Butler 75

Other Massey Ratings Insights: Chance to win %: Roane St. 28%, Butler 72%, 

Betting line: Butler -6.5, Game O/U: 144.5 points

Notes compiled by Wyatt Ebersole

Series History: Teams have never met

Opening notes:

• The #10 seeded Butler Grizzlies will face the #23 seeded Roane State Raiders on Monday, March 20th in the opening round of the NJCAA Men's Basketball National Tournament 
• Both teams were automatic qualifiers for the tournament as Butler was crowned as Region VI Champions and Roane State won the Region VII Title
• According to Massey Ratings, Roane is rated 98th in the NJCAA and Butler is ranked 27th
• Roane State has appeared in back-to-back national tournaments
• This is Butler's first national tournament appearance since 2015
• Roane State is 0-1 in games at the national tournament while Butler has not won a game at the tournament since at least 2001
• Both sides entered their region tournament not ranked in the final NJCAA poll
• Butler reached a national ranking as high as #16, while Roane State did not appear in any poll this season 
• Butler is 7-3 in their last ten games and have won five of their last six 
• Roane St. enters the tournament as winners of ten of their last eleven games
• Butler is 13-2 playing against unranked teams this season (only losses are vs Colby and at NW Tech)
• Butler is 0-3 in their three national tournament games since 2010
• Roane State has not played any teams that have appeared in the national rankings the week that they played
• Butler is 4-0 on neutral courts so far this season
• The Grizzlies are 1-0 when playing on a Monday this season

Last action for the Grizzlies 

Saturday, March 11th | Region VI Championship | #4 Butler 73, #3 Barton 69

• The Butler Men claimed their first Region VI Title in over a decade with a win over the Barton Cougars in the Region VI Championship
• With the win, the Grizzlies claimed an automatic bid to the National Tournament 
• The loss made it so that the Grizzlies no longer control their own path to a bye in the Region VI Playoffs
• Neither side led the game by more than seven points the whole way
• The lead changed hands 16 times and the game was tied up at 15 different points throughout the game
• The win ultimately ended the Cougars season as they did not receive an at-large bid to the tournament
• Barton nearly pulled out a dramatic win, but the Grizzlies went a perfect 8/8 at the free throw line over the last 30 seconds to close out the game
• Four Grizzlies finished in double figures with Isaiah Williams leading the way with 15 points
• As the #4 seed, Butler became the lowest seed to win the tournament since the 2019-20 season when Coffeyville won it as #5 seed

Know the opponent

• The Roane State Raiders hail from Harriman, Tennessee and Roane County, a town 40 minutes west of Knoxville, Tennessee
• The Raiders are members of the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) and compete NJCAA Region 7 and the Appalachian District
• Roane State has now won back-to-back Region 7 Titles and this is only their second ever national tournament appearance
• The Raiders won their region tournament this year as a #3 seed
• The Raiders are currently 23-8 on the season and finished 13-5 in conference play
• Roane State is in their second year under head coach Alan Holt and his record leading the Raiders is 41-18
• The Raiders finished a dominant 14-1 this season on their home floor, but are just 6-7 in road games this year
• Roane State has five players averaging double figures this season led by freshman guard Sebastian Tidor who averages 17.6 points per game
• The Raiders also boast one the better big men in the country in Cearius Warren who averages 10.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, and a monster 3.0 blocks per game, which is the fifth most blocks per game in the country
• Roane State was the bottom seed at the national tournament last year and they fell in their first game to Shelton State
• The Raiders are looking for their first ever win at the national tournament

Notes about the series

• This is the first ever meeting between the Raiders and the Grizzlies

NO LEAD IS SAFE WHEN THE GRIZZLIES ARE BEHIND

• The Butler Men have overcome four double-digit, second half deficits this season 

A Grizzly W would… 

• Improve them to 26-8 on the year
• Advance them to the Sweet 16 on Tuesday 
• Break their losing streak at the national tournament
• Be their sixth win in their last seven games
• Win their first meeting with Roane State
• Continue their season 

A Grizzly L would… 

• End their season at 25-9 overall
• Break their four-game winning streak
• Be their third straight national tournament appearance without winning a game
  

Looking ahead

If the Grizzlies win, they will advance to national Sweet 16 on Tuesday where they would face #7 seeded and reigning national champion Northwest Florida State at 8:30 PM